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J[rbntaro 22^ 1916 



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Chester, Pa. : 

Press of the Chester Times 

19 16 

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Madam President, Members and Guests of the New Century Club: 

It seems to me that there is a very general impression, even 
among members of patriotic societies, that at the close of the Revo- 
lutionary War, when Great Britain had acknowledged the inde- 
dependence of the several thirteen Colonies, immediately what we of 
this generation term "good times" set in, and happiness and pros- 
perity prevailed throughout the land, whereas, in fact, a contrary 
condition existed. All commerce was suspended, bartering of com- 
modities was general, little or no money was in circulation, there 
was hardly a wealthy man in all the late Colonies; the public was 
burdened with debt, few manufacturing or industrial enterprises 
were in active operation, and those gave little promise for the fu- 
ture. The Continental Congress, called into being as a representa- 
tive of the Colonies, united to defend themselves against the ag- 
gressions of the king, at the close of the war, was powerless to 
enact laws to raise revenue for the support of a central govern- 
ment, to organize a federal judicial system, or to enforce the de- 
crees of such tribunals had they been created. The prevailing idea 
among the masses was that as the struggle for independence had 
been waged against "taxation withouF representation," and now 
that victory had been won, why under the new conditions should 
taxes of any kind be levied? To such an extent was this idea car- 
ried that in Eastern Tennessee was projected a new state called 
Franklin, and in Massachusetts an insurrection, led by Daniel Shays 
— who had been a captain in the Continental army — prevented the 
meeting of the Supreme Court in that state temporarily. So strong 
a hold had this idea on the minds of the masses, that even after 
the adoption of the Constitution, in Pennsylvania armed bodies — 
(in Western Pennsylvania, the "Whiskey Insurrection," and in the 
counties of Lehigh, Berks, Northampton and parts of Bucks and 
Montgomery, known as "the Hot Water War,") — resisted the en- 
forcement of certain revenue laws of the Federal Government. So 
gloomy was the outlook after the close of the Revolutionary War 
that even Washington despaired of the future. In his letter to 
John Jay, August 1, 1786, among other things he wrote: "I am 
told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form 
of government without horror," and in June, 1787, in his letter to 
Lafayette, alluding to the death of General Nathaniel Greene the 
year before: "I have accompanied it" (his regret) "of late with 



TJte Chester Washington Kneir 



a query whether he would not have preferred such an exit to the 
scenes which, it is more than probable, many of his confederates 
may live to bemoan."' It must have been a dreary outlook when 
the foremost man uf the Revolutionary struggle felt called upon 
to pen such words as these I have just quoted. However, better 
times were at hand. The Constitution of the United States had 
been adopted and Washington had been called to the Presidency 
of the new government. 

It is my purpose to call your attention to the Chester Wash- 
ington knew when on his journey to his inauguration in New York, 
which occurred April 30, 1789. He left Mount Vernon April 16, and 
he, Colonel David Humphreys, his aide, and Charles Thomson, '"the 
perpetual Secretary of Congress," stopped for the night of Sunday, 
April 19, 1789, at Wilmington. At an early hour the next morn- 
ing, Monday, April 20, he and party set out for Chester, where it 
was proposed they should breakfast. The Saturday afternoon be- 
fore. General Thomas Mifflin, then President of Pennsylvania un- 
der the old State Constitution of 1776; Judge Richard Peters, Speak- 
er of the Assembly, and the City Troop of Philadelphia, had passed 
through Chester, fuliy expecting to meet the President-elect and 
his party at the L'eiawaie State line the next day, Sunday. In 
this, however, they were disappointed. That night they remained 
at Marcus Hook, but the following morning, as already stated, 
Washington, who had been escorted to the State line by a num- 
ber of dignitaries and distinguished Delawareans, was transferred 
into the keeping of the authorities of Pennsylvania. 

In delineating the then features of Chester as Washington saw 
the town on that Monday morning, April 20, 1789, it seems fitting 
to begin the description at the King's highway or great southern 
post road, now Third street, where Lamokin run crosses that thor- 
oughfare, it being for one hundred and sixty-five years the western 
boundary line of the old borough, and later, for thirty-nine years, 
that of the City until South Chester Borough was annexed to Ches- 
ter. Lamokin, in the Indian tongue, means "the kiss of the 
water," and was known by that name in our history long prior to 
Penn's first coming to his Province. In 1789, from what is now 
Flower street to the run, the highway declined sharply, rising on 
the east side to where is now Norris street. 

On the north side of the road stood the old Salkeld house, 
which the wealthy and noted Quaker wit (see note a) erecteil about 

(Note a) One (l:iy, Siilkeltl w;is wtsiritiK a new hal tlial had a 
button and a loDp, then quite fa.shionabh'. an<l he was remonstrated 
with by a Kriend I'oi' \ieldinK to the usajr»-s and rustonis of the world, 
.lohn tore otY tliis i)ait of liis apparel, remarking as lu' did so. "If my 
friend's religion consists of a button and a loop, I would not nive a 
button or a loop foi- it." Aiiothei' time at a meetiuK' of I'^rieiids, which 
wa.s beins addressed b.v a tedious speaker who had man>- of his hearers 
almost asleep, Salkeld rose excla im inj; : "Kire, tire!" The i-on^cieK:it ion, 

in alarm, iruiuired, "Where'. In hell," he responcb-d, "to bui'n uji the 

drowsy and unconx ei'led." On his return from a reliKious journey lo 
New .Jersey, he told iiuiuirin^ friends that "I have breakfasted with 
the Ladds, dined with the i,,ords. and slejil with the Hokrs," the 



The Chester Washington Kneic 



1708, and which for two centuries remained a landmark until Nor- 
ris street was opened to public use. Then the house, which stood 
in the roadbed, was removed to make place for modern improve- 
ments. At what is now Howell street still stands an old Colonial 
milestone, whose inscription is hardly accurate, since in the forties 
of the last century, when every spring; rain would topple it over, my 
father at last caused its removal about a hundred and fifty feet 
west, placing it securely beside the east gate leading into the lawn 
of our old homestead — "Kenil worth" (b). The Howell street school 
house now occupies part of the site of our old dwelling. 

Between Pennell and Pusey streets, at that time stood what 
was then known as "Lamokin Hall," (c) a building that can be re- 
called to many of my hearers better as the Perkins House. As 
I recall it, it had a frontage of ninety feet. Peter Salkeld, a 
grandson of John, built the western end of the house prior to 1777, 
for in the spring of the following year Joseph Bishop, who lived 
to be an octogenarian, tells us that when a boy he stood on the 
porch of the house and watched the British fleet, which then laid 
off Chester, at practice, and at other times, when distinguished 
visitors were received, saw the vessels gaily dressed with many 
flags and streamers. The eastern end was added by James With- 
ey, a son of Mary Withey, of whom I shall speak later on. His 
brother, Samuel Withey, who lived with him, was extremely un- 
popular with the people of the neighborhood, particularly mechan- 
ics and others, because of his declaration that people of their 
condition should, by law, be restricted from dressing in the same 
fabrics as those worn by their more fortunate neighbors, so that 
the well to-do and the laboring classes might at any time be dis- 
tinguished by their apparel. 

Just east of Pusey street a stream of water, now obliterated, 
crossing the highway — Bristow's run. John Bristow was the 
owner of all the land on the north side of the road from about 
where is now Ulrich street to where is now Central avenue, which 
had been patented to him by Penn. From Bristow's run to where is 
now the Second Presbyterian Church, the road bent slightly to the 
southeast and there in my early boyhood day was a considerable 
rise in the highway. 



names of the families where he had been entertained. One time as 
he walked from his cornfield, a Friend, one Clowd, was walking alons: 
the hig-hway. who said. ".John, thee will have a g:ood crop of corn." 
Salkeld, soon after relating the incident, said that he heard a voice 
coming- out of a Clowd saying, "John, thee will have a good croii of 
corn." He had a favorite horse with a blaze on its face, and a neigh- 
bor, who thought to jest with him, said, "John, thy horse looks pale 
in the face." "Yes, he does," was the reply, "and if thee had looked 
so long through a halter as he has, thee would look pale in the face, 
too." 

(b) For a brief description of Kenilworth, see Martin's History 
of Chester, p. 443. 

(c) Accounts of Lamokin Hall, see Martin's History of Chester, 
p. 443; Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 138; Ashmead's History of 
Delaware County, p. 362. 



Th(' (liP-^ter Wdshiimton Ktu 



As Washing-ton traversed the road, it was not until he reached 
Concord avenue that another dwelling met his vision. At the north- 
west corner of that avenue stands an old hipped-roof house (d), in 
late years occupied as a Chinese laundry, erected in the early part 
of the eighteenth century. It was owned by Thomas Pedrick, a 
descendant of Roger Pedrick, the settler of that name, whose 
daughter, Rebecca, born at Marcus Hook, September 14, 1678, was 
the first child born to English parents in the Province. On the op- 
posite northeast corner was the Turner house (e) — the site of the 
Columbia Hotel— where in 1739 Bramphyide Moore Carew, the 
noted "King of the Mendicants," as related by himself, escaping 
from servitude in Virginia, in the character of a pious fraud, ob- 
tained a considerable sum of money from Mrs. Turner. Many of 
my hearers can recall the dwelling as the Shaw homestead. 

At this point, one of the company, probably pointing obliquely 
to the Delaware river, directed Washington's attention to where 
is now the Penn Steel Works, for at that time immediately opposite 
the present office, stood one of the most noted dwellings in this 
State — the Essex House (f), where Robert Wade received William 
Penn on his first arrival in the Province in 1682; where Colonel Mark- 
ham, Penn's Deputy Governor, lived many months, and where Lord 
Baltimore stopped when he visited Upland; and where Lord Corn- 
bury (g). Governor of New York, a first cousin of Queens Mary and 
Anne, of Great Britain, was a visitor. Lydia Wade, the widow, by 
will, in 1705, emancipated her slaves, the first instance of the kind 
in the history of Pennsylvania. The old building was torn down in 
1851 to make way for a more modern structure, now in its turn 
demolished. 

Approaching Chester river, there stood on an eminence where 
is now Penn street, in the middle of that street, south of Third, a 
story-and-a-half building, its gable facing the King's highway, 
from which projected the crane en which hung the sign of \.\\q 

(d) See BirchaU Hou.se. Historical Sketches of Che-ster. p. 1G7. 

(e) See further account of the Turner (.^haw) House in His- 
torical Sketches of Chester, p. 14S. 

(f) See Martin's History of Chester, p. ifi: Historical Sketches 
of Chester, j). :?S; Ashmead's History of Chester, p. ;S.5.3. It was in this 
house that William Kdinundson, a noted Quaker preacher, held the 
first Friends' Meeting in Pennsylvania, in 1675. 

(g) Apnes Strickland, in her "Lives of the Queens of England," 
speaking of Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, says that he was half- 
witted, and was sent to the English Colonies of North America: where 
on state recei)tions he wore female attire, the better to represent his 
royal relatives. The fact is, that when drunk, which was ijuite 
fre<iuent, his lordship would attire himself in (juilted i)etticoats, pan- 
nier hoops, wig, and dress of a woman of fashion of those days, and 
reeling along Kro:iilway, followed by children, who trooped after him. 
until he leturned to the fort to sleei) off the (iebauch. ,Joseph .1. Lewis 
and .1 ;)hn V. Watson were told by Deborah Logan that an old woman 
at Chester had told her that she i-emembered Loi-d Cornbury's visits 
to the town; and that she was anxious to see him because he was the 
Queen's cousin ai\d a Lord, but that she saw no difVerence in him save 
"that he wore leather stockings." 



The Chester Washington Kyiew 



Boar's Head. In that house William Penn frequently lodged during 
the winter of 1682-3. The old building was destroyed by fire March 
21, 1850. 

At the northeast corner of Penn street, still standing, was the 
hipped-roof house — the Black Bear Inn (h) kept by George Gill, an 
Englishman and a bitter Tory, who, during the Revolution had been 
proclaimed a traitor, had fled to Nova Scotia, but subsequently re- 
turned to Chester, where he was arrested, but finally discharged by 
the Act of Assembly, which pardoned all such past offenses. 

From where is now Dock street to the west end of the bridge 
was a causeway, then in bad condition and dangerous. Here it was 
in the darkness of the night of Brandywine battle. Colonel Cropper, 
then a captain in the Ninth Virginia Infantry — a part of Greene's 
command covering the American retreat — to prevent his men be- 
ing crowded over into the marsh, fastened his handkerchief on a 
ram-rod, and stood holding it aloft as a signal, until his troop had 
filed by. 

The company had now reached the bridge — the second that had 
spanned the creek at that place — and then not over ten years old, 
and much out of repair. On the east side of the bridge, Lafay- 
ette, on the night of Brandywine, although his wound in the foot 
had received only first aid on the field, stopped to station a guard 
to halt straggling American soldiers and return them to their 
several commands. 

At "Front street that runs along the river," the present Edg- 
mont avenue, on the right side, where is now National Hall, Thom- 
son may have called Washington's attention to the dwelling of 
James Mather, the uncle of Thomson's first wife, while beyond it on 
the west side of the street, were the foundations of Saundeland's 
Double House, almost level with the earth. In that house the first 
Assembly in Pennsylvania met in 1682. Time covered these ruins, 
and buried them from sight until in July, 1893, while excavations 
were being made for the foundations of provisions stores, the old 
foundations of the Double House were uncovered. Hon. William B. 
Broomall had photographs made of the ruins — a most gracious, 
thoughtful act (i). 

Still on the same side of the street, the first Meeting House of 
Friends in Chester, built in 1693, still stood, although then used as 
a dwelling. Beyond that was the old Court House and jail, built 
in 1695 by John Hoskins, and served as the temple of justice until 
1724 — was then occupied as a dwelling house that has only been 
removed within recent years. Beyond that was the "Granary," 
(j) built by Jasper Yeates in 1698, where hard tack in quantities 

(h) See Historical Sketches of Ciiester, p. 99; Ashmead's His- 
tory of Delaware County, p. 364. 

(i) See Chester Times, July 29, 1S93. 

(j) Here was the ferry, in what is now Second street, and the 
following incident took place on Penn's second coming to his Province 
in 1700: "The next morning- he (Wm. Penn) went over the creek in a 



The Chester Wasfiingtoi} Knew 



for the soldiers of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the War 
of 1861-'65 was baked. It was removed in 1865. On the southeast 
side of James street — Third- — was John Mather's house, built in 
1700, later converted into the Lafayette Hotel. Here Charles Thom- 
son had wooed Mary Mather, and Dr. Paul Jackson, the first grad- 
uate from what is now the University of Pennsylvania, courted her 
sister, Jane Mather. Further south, at what is now Graham street, 
Henry Hale Graham had his office, and still farther was his resi- 
dence, erected in 1688 (k), and, although greatly changed and 
added to for business purposes; today stands the oldest house 
within the corporate limits of Chester city. Then came the Ash- 
bridge House (1), still standing, adjoining to the front, the Jersey 
Hotel. Across Second street was the Lloyd House, built by David 
Lloyd, the great chief justice of Colonial days, in 1700. It is still 
standing, as are the two to the south, built by Francis Richardson 
in 1764, when he believed that Chester could be made the commer- 
cial rival of Philadelphia. 

From where Washington rode could be seen the old James 
Barker House, built in 1699, from which the picturesque pent roof 
has been removed in recent years; and just above it, the frame house 
built by John Grubb, but then occupied by old Alice Cummings, 
the widow of the village shoemaker, then blind, whose white floors 
and well-kept furniture, her small garden and draw well with 
mossey bucket at its side, were vividly remembered by Deborah 
Logan when she in turn had grown old. Next came the Logan 
House, built by Jasper Yeates in 1700, later the home of Joseph 
Parker, for whom Parker street is named, where then resided his 
daughter, Mary Norris, whose daughter, Deborah Norris, mar- 
ried George Logan, United States Senator, who will always 
claim attention as "The Female Historian of Colonial Pennsylva- 
nia," came frequently to visit her mother. Further east was the 
home of Elisha Price, an earnest patriot, zealous churchman, and 
able lawyer. The Grubb, Logan and Price houses (m) have given 
way to the John J. Buckley mammoth packing industry. 

boat to Chester. And, as he landed, some young- men officiously, and 
contrary to the expressed orders of some of the masistrates, fired two 
small sea pieces of cannon, and, being: ambitious of makinp three out 
of two, by firing one twice, one of them, darting in a cartridge of 
powder before the piece was sponged, had his left hand and arm shot 
to pieces; upon which, a surgeon being sent for, an amputation took 
place." Clarkson's Life of Penn, vol. 2, p. 163; Smith's History of 
Delaware County, p. 2(I0; Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 27; Ash- 
mead's History of I)elaware County, p. 29. The young man, Bevan, 
thus injured, died the following April. I'enn defrayed the expenses of 
his illness and ultimate burial. This was the first surgical operation 
of which w-e have record in the hisstory of the C()lon»*»*iv 

(k) See Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 67; Ashmead's History 
of Delaware County, p. .35.3. 

(1) See Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 135; Ashmead's His- 
tory of Delaware County, p. 361. 

(m) See Logan House, Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 73; Ash- 
mead's History of Delaware County, p. 352. Price House, Historical 
Sketches of Chester, j). 121. 



The Chester Washinqton Kniw 



Looking north up Edgmont avenue from Third, at the north- 
east corner was the tavern, "The Ship George Washington," later 
the City Hotel, and adjoining it the dwelling of Isaac Eyre. On 
the west side was the building erected by one of the Howells, as 
the dwelling and office for his tannery; and further up, the old 
Johnson tavern, erected prior to 1748, still standing, now the of- 
fice of the representatives of the State Board of Health. Still 
further up Edgmont avenue, now known as the old Pennell House, 
facing Fourth street, built prior to 1732, was during the Revolution 
a hospital for American troops; and at one time in the winter of 
1775-6, more than 1,800 men were located in the house and grounds 
ill with smallpox. That house and one at Bethlehem are the only 
two permanent Revolutionary hospitals in Pennsylvania, known to 
the War Department at Washington. Adjoining the Pennell house 
to the north is the old Bernard house, erected by Joseph Parker 
prior to 1733, which finally came into the ownership of Sheriff 
James Bernard, whose son, Isaac, became a distinguished general of 
the War of 1812, a Senator of the United States, and for whom 
Bernard street, West Chester, is named. 

Continuing up Third street, on the north side, east of the City 
Hotel, was the old parsonage of St. Paul's Church, built in 1715, 
which was too expensive for the rector to occupy, hence it was sold, 
passing from owner to owner until finally it became the Globe Ale 
House. It was destroyed by fire in 1835. On the opposite side 
was the home of Frederick Engle, now greatly altered — No. 23 
West Third street. In that house Rear Admiral Isaac Engle was 
born. On the same side, further up, was what we knew as the 
Flickwir House, Nos. 21 and 23 West Third street. It was built 
about the middle of the eighteenth century by Robert Coburn, and 
at the time of Washington's visit was owned by his son, Aaron, a 
hatter, and the first postmaster of Chester of whom we have record. 
In that house, in 1819, Butler and Worthington established "The 
Post Boy," the first newspaper ever published in Delaware coun- 
ty. Opposite it on the north side of the way, where is now the 
Colonnade Hotel, was the Stephen Cole house, then the store of 
Jane Davis, who among other articles, kept an assortment of drugs, 
the first apothecary shop established in the borough (n). At the 



(n) Deborah Logan, then in her sixty-sixth year, 1827, in her 
manuscript notes to John F. Watson's "Visit to Chester" (Pennsyl- 
vania Historical Society's Collection), writes: "They" (Mrs. Ann Davis 
and her three daughters) "Kept the only Apothecary Shop in Chester." 
The mother, a daughter of John Bethel, who emigrated to Pennsylvania 
in 1693. was born at Darby, August, 1706. Three years later, her 
father then a member of the Assembly, representing Chester County, 
died 'when an aged woman, in 1790, she stated that she remembered 
playing with the Indian children of the wigwams in the neighborhood 
of Darby She was married in early womanhood to Benjamin Davis, 
and loca'ted in Chester. Small of person, she was frail in health, and 
for seventy years was afflicted with pulmonary consumption. Not- 
withstanding, she was remarkable for her sprightly and vivacious 
manner and as a cultivated conversationalist. An invalid, she em- 
ployed her time knitting, spinning, and other household activities. In 
her long struggle with disease for over seventy years, she daily used 
preparations of opium without acquiring the drug habit. That fact 



10 The Chester W'dshitKjton Kneic 

southwest corner of Market Square, where the Delaware County 
National Bank is now, on an eminence, at that time was a small 
frame house, a flijjht of steps leadinjj up to an unpretentious porch, 
where lived Elizabeth Pedrick, who sold milk for a livinj^ — the first 
milkman or milkwoman of which we have record in our city's an- 
nals. 

As the cavalcade came up Third street — -then James, so named 
in honor of the Duke of York, afterwards James II — the old mar- 
ket house in Market Square, built in 1746, was in full sight. The 
ancient structure — it was removed in the spring of 1857 — was 
erected on a raised brick platform, curbed with stone, extending 
about fifty feet along Market street, and thirty feet in width. The 
building was thirty-five feet in length and twenty feet wide. The 
shingled roof was sustained by eleven brick pillars on the east 
and a like number on the west side, and the plastered ceiling with- 
in formed an archway the entire length of the market house. At 
the period of which I am talking, the frame chamber on the roof 
at the east end, used as a Borough Hall, Chester Library and 
public meeting room, and the wooden outside stairway, by which it 
was reached on the east side, had not been constructed. When the 
market house was taken down in 1857, the owner of the proper- 
ties at the square encroached with their pavements until they 
formed, as today, an octagonal space not a square. 

Looking down Market, or High street, on the right hand was 
the second Friends' Meeting House (o), erected in 1737, still stand- 
ing, although much changed externally. On the left was an old log 
cabin, built by Jonas Sandelands about 1720, and at what is now 
the northeast corner of Market and Second streets, was the "Blue 
Ball Tavern," its quaint sign suspended from a pole projecting from 
the gable end on Market street, giving to it its name. It was built 
by Francis Richardson about 1770, and for nearly a hundred and 
fifty years there were holes in the walls where the scaffolding sup- 
ports had been, and were left so, because the bricklayer had not 
been paid; and that was their mode, before the mechanics' lien law- 
was enacted, of notifying their fellow craftsmen of that fact. 

Further down was what is now the Steamboat Hotel, the 
handsome mansion of Francis Richardson, which was then in the 
sheriff's hands. There had lived the four beautiful daughters of 
Richardson and Francis Richardson, Jr., the son, who went to Eng> 
land, rose high in military life, and became-the Colonel of the Cold- 



arou.sed the interest of medical men. and on several occasions Doctors 
Benjamin Rush and Casper Wisier, who were then recognized as at 
the head of the profession in this country, at their own request visited 
Chester to irivestlKate the pei'uliar circumstances associated with her 
case. Mrs. Davis died .July 24. ITH.t, in her eiffhty-ninth year. Her 
three dauphters, who wei'e models of fili;il piety and affection, who 
had refused to wed that they might minister to their mother, did not 
long survive her. The old house, which sixty odd years later became 
the residence of r>r. .1. h. Forwood, was removed eai'ly in IST.t to give 
place to the present <'olonnade Hotel. 

(o) See Historical Sketches of Chester, p. IT.'i; .Vshmead's His- 
tory of Delaware County, p. 33t. 



The Chester Washington Knew 11 



stream Guards, a position that never before had been conferred on 
anyone not of royal birth (p). Further up the river, at Welsh street, 
was the house of David Lloyd, then occupied by Raper Hoskins, la- 
ter the home of Commodore David Porter, the hero of 1812; the 
boyhood home of Farragut; the birth place of Admiral David Por- 
ter, and Theoderick Porter, cf the army, who was the first U. S. 
Army officer to fall in the Mexican War (q). 

The old St. Paul's Church, its gable facing the square, stood 
on the south side of East Third street, then known as Church 
lane (r). 

The company turned into Market street, and on the left side 
stood Daniel Sharpless' store, a two-story stone building, which 
was owned in 1850 by the late Judge John M. Broomall, when it 
was destroyed by fire. Where is now the Grand Theatre was a 
building kept as a tavern by John Schanlan, an Irishman, whose 
inn formerly was the resort of "sons of the old sod," but at 
that time was the general store of Davis Bevan, who had been a 
captain in the American army. Near the corner, just removed, was 
what was then known as the home of Jemima Dasey, a widow, and 
her maiden sister, Mary Linard, the latter a middle-aged woman, 
who could hobble along with great difficulty, using a cane. This 
site is now owned by L. A. Clyde (s). 

(p) Francis Richardson's four daughters, Deborah, Hannah. 
Grace, and Frances, were noted beauties. Their complexion, tradition 
tells us, was so exquisitely transparent that the gallants of that day 
declared that when the ladies drank wine, "It might be seen trickling 
down their fair throats." Their elder brother, Francis Richardson, 
we are told by the annalist Wat.son and Deborah Logan, "was a per- 
son of great personal beauty." He shocked tlie good Friend.s of 
Chester by his fondness for dress. About 17 70, he went to England, 
having formed a passionate longing for military life from associa- 
tion with the British officers in Philadelphia. In London, he roomed 
in tlie same house with Foot, the comedian and playright, and estab- 
lished a renutation for the theatre. He was received into the best 
society, and there laid the foundation for his preferment. He was 
noted a.s a swordsman and a dead shot with pistols. Sir William 
Draper stated that "Frank Richardson was one of the mo.st singular 
and succes.sful of American adventurers." He received a coinmission 
in tho King's Life Guard — the noted Coldstream Guard — and when the 
Guards were ordered to embark for New York in March, 1779, Ensign 
Francis Richardson was named among the ofHcers. This order seems 
to have been countermanded, for the (^oldstream Guards took no active 
part in the Revolutionary War. See Historical Sketches of Chester, 
p. 90; Ashmead's History of Delaware County, p. 370. 

(q) On Friday, February 17, 1SS2, the old building then used by 
Professor Jackson as a pyrotechnical factory was destroyed by Are. 
A large stock of fireworks exploded, resulting in the death of eighteen 
and the wounding of fifty-seven persons. The anniversary of this 
disaster is t;nnually ob'^erved by the Chester firemen with approi)riate 
religious ceremonies. The date stone of the ancient dwelling with the 
inscription D(avid) G(race) L(loyd) 1721 has been inserted in the 
chimney breast in the assembly room of the Hanley Hose Company's 
house on Fifth, facing Crosby street. See Historical Sketches of 
Chester, p. 110; Ashmead's History of Delaware County, p. 355. 

(r) Account of the church see William Shaler Johnson's "The 
Story of Saint Paul's Church and Parish. Chester, Pennsylvania, as 
told by its own records"; Martin's History of Chester, p. 113 to 134; 
Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 179; Ashmead's History of Delaware 
County, p. 337. 

(s) Morgan (Terrell) House, in Historical Sketches of (i'hester, 
p. 161; Ashmead's History of Delaware County, p. 360. 



12 The CJiestcr W'dshiiuifon Knew 

Near the southwest corner of Fourth — then Work street, be- 
cause the workhouse was located thereon — was what was later 
known as the Stacey House, which was erected some thirty years 
before by Caleb Coupland, who had been an Associate Judge of the 
Provincial Supreme Court, had entertained Lafayette there in 1777, 
and the next year, 1778, an aged man, was taken prisoner by a 
boat's crew from a British man-of-war, detained several weeks and, 
when discharged, died from the effects of his imprisonment. The 
adjoining houses then constituted the "Blue Anchor" tavern, which 
James Trigo built in 1732 "on the green, near the Court House." 
Later it was known as Hope's Anchor tavern (t). It had been kept 
as an inn by John West, father of Benjamin West. At that time 
Enoch Green was the landlord. It was known then, as it is today, 
as the "White Swan Hotel." 

On the other corner was the jail, which was in architecture sim- 
ilar to the present City Hall, the gable end facing Market street 
and the walls, as were those surrounding the yard, were of plain 
stone. It fell back from the street nearly twenty feet, and in front 
was planted a double row of Lombardy poplars, extending to where 
the two doors on the south side of the Court House gave access to 
that building; but the poplars, as they grew old, took on the ap- 
pearance of exploded skyrockets, until about 1820, they were re- 
placed by linden trees. Here stood one of the town pumps*. 

The Court House presented at that time much the external ap- 
pearance that it does today, excepting the door in the front and 
the painted stones. A small belfrey rose from the roof, in which 
hung a bell, cast into the metal were the words, "Chester, 
1729." The prothonotary's office, a two-story brick structure, stood 
then on the ground now occupied by the "Chester Times" building. 

At the northwest corner of Fifth, then Free, street, and Mar- 
ket, was an old building — demolished in 1837 — which was then 
the dwelling of Dr. William Martin, who was Chief Burgess of 
Chester. As Dr. Martin was the first man in the State to advo- 
cate free public schools, the School Board very properly named 
one of its buildings, at Fifteenth and Walnut streets, the Martin 
School. 

On Market street, on the east side, next to Bickley's drug 
store, two houses had been built about 1730 by some of the Howell 
family; in one lived Dr. William Currie. who had been a surgeon in 
the Continental Army. He subsequently removed to Philadelphia, 
where he became a distinguished physician and an author of con- 
siderable prominence. When these houses were passed, the com- 



et) Hope's Anchor Tavern and the Stacey House, Historical 
Sketches of Chester, p. 101; Ashmead's History of Delaware County, 
p. 3fi9. 

*The tf>wii i)umj)s were three in luinilier. One was at the Boar's 
Head Inn, Third and I'enn streets; one in tile Court House .^(luare; and 
the third on Market street above Fifth, nearly in front of the Chester 
National iiank ImildiiiK. 



The Chester Washington Knew IH 



pany halted before the Washington House (u), externally present- 
ing then in a large degree the same appearance it does today, ex- 
cepting that there were no buildings between it and Fifth street to 
the north, and an open space between it and the Currie residence 
to the south. The stone stable, with its gable end towards Market 
street, was then distinctly seen, while beyond, to the east, not a 
building was in view save the school house, built in 1770, on a lot 
donated by Joseph Hoskins, which was removed in 1870 to give 
place to what are now the Harvey and Dr. Starr school houses. 

As the carriage containing Washington, Colonel Humphreys 
and Charles Thomson stopped at the front entrance to the hotel, 
where stood William Kerlin, the landlord, to receive them, all the 
inhabitants of the town flocked to see the distinguished party alight, 
and business for the day was at a standstill. 

It was a wonderful event in the life of the village child to 
watch the cavalry, and hear the jingle of their swords and spurs, 
together with the champing of the horses' bits, as the City Troop 
rode into the ample yard of the post stage inn, and dismounted. 

It was shortly after seven o'clock when the procession halted 
at the Washington House and the Presidential party were served 
with their morning meal. The accommodations of the tavern were 
taxed to such an extent that it is related many of the strangers 
were compelled to seek entertainment at other public houses and 
private residences. 

After Washington had refreshed himself, he signified his wil- 
lingness to receive the Chief Burgess of Chester and those who de- 
sired to be present at the interview. It was a goodly assembly of 
the inhabitants of the ancient borough, swollen by a number of 
those residing in the neighborhood. Conspicuous among them was 
Captain John Crosby, who built and then lived in the house now 
the residence of W. B. Harvey (v). Although then he was only for- 
ty-one, his silvery white hair and careworn face were noticeable. 
Those who knew him were familiar with the story of his capture 
as a prisoner of war in the Revolution, his imprisonment on the 
British frigate "Falmouth," in New York harbor, how the harsh 
treatment and insufficient food he received left their traces never 
to be effaced. David Marshall, of Marcus Hook, who had been a 
lieutenant in Wayne Brigade, was present, and Richard Riley, af- 
terwards associate judge for many years, of the same place, moved 
about in his nervous way, pleased that by his activity on behalf 
of the Colonies, he had done his part in bringing about the estab- 
lishment of a new nationality. Dr. Thomas Worrell, of Upper 
Providence, who believed in the curative virtue of native herbs, was 
present, as was Dr. Jonas Preston, who had recently moved to Ches- 



(u) For accounts of the Washington House, see The Celebration 
of Penn'.s Landing by the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, October 2fi, 
1912, pp. 9-20; Historical Sketches of Chester, p. 82; Martin's History 
of Chester, p. 267; Ashmead's History of Delaware County, p. 367. 

(v) In that house Admiral Pierce Crosby was born, and later it 
was the home of Robert K. Hannum. 



14 The Chester Washington Knew 



ter, and Dr. William Currie, both of whom afterwards in Philadel- 
phia became renowned physicians. Henry Hale Graham, who that 
fall was appointed the first President Judgre of Delaware County, 
and Elisha Price represented the bar, while Thomas B. Dick and 
William Graham were students at law, the latter followed by his 
dogs, his daily companions, who ran among the people, receiving 
many a kick to intimate that they were unwelcome there (w). Davis 
Bevan, Isaac Eyre, Jeremiah Mcllvain, Jonathan Pennell, William 
Worrell, of Ridley; Major William Anderson, later Congressman 
from this district; Richard Flower, Peter Deshong and others gath- 
ered in the presence of the President-elect, as the Chief Burgess 
stepped forth to make his brief address. 

Dr. W^illiam Martin at that time was a young man who had not 
attained his twenty-fourth year, and being noticeably handsome, it 
was to be expected that he would present himself before Washing- 
ton becomingly attired. He was dressed in the rich apparel in 
vogue toward the end of the eighteenth century before the influence 
of the French Revolution of 1793 had "knocked things into sixes 
and sevens." His purple velvet small clothes and vest and coat of 
the same color, adorned with silver buttons, each formed like a su- 
gar loaf, studded with brilliants, became his graceful figure and his 
black silk stockings set without a wrinkle on his shapely legs. Large 
silver buckles, flashing with brilliants, fastened his pumps, and at 
his side hung a small, straight sword, such as were worn at that 
period by all gentlemen, save Friends, when in full dress. His 
hair, worn in a queue, was powdered, and a three-cornered hat, 
which he frequently carried under his arm, completed the at- 
tire. Advancing a few paces before the others, he said: 

"To his Excellency, George Washington, Esq., President of the 
United States. Sir: The inhabitants of the town of Chester, im- 
pressed with the liveliest sentiments for your Excellency's charac- 
ter, congratulate themselves upon this opportunity being afforded 
them to pay their respects to, and to assure you of the unfeigned 
joy that swells their bosoms, while they reflect that the united 
voices of millions have again called you from the bosom of domes- 
tic retirement to be once more the public guardian of the liberty, 
happiness and prosperity of United America. From this event 
they entertain the most pleasing expectations of the future great- 
ness of the western world; indeed, they cannot but observe to your 
Excellency that the torpid resources of our country, already dis- 
cover signs of life and motion from the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution. Accept, sir, our fervent wish for your welfare- 
may you be happy; may a life spent in usefulness be crowned with 
a serene old age; and may your future reward be a habitation not 
built with hands, eternal in the heavens." 

Washington, in reply, merely returned his thanks for the 
courteous reception which had been extended to him by the citi- 



(w) See Ashmead's History of the Helaware County National 
Kank, "William draham," p. 142. 



The Chester Washington Knew 



15 



zens of the borough, and expressed the hope that he should dis- 
charge the trust he was about to assume to the satisfaction of the 
entire nation. He then shook hands with the Chief Burgess and 
others with whom he conversed pleasantly, although it was notice- 
able that he seemed to show slight annoyance because of the mili- 
tary and public display which attended each step of his jouTney to- 
ward New York. 

Shortly before ten o'clock, the company having all re-assem- 
bled, the journey toward Philadelphia was resumed. Washington 
ordered his carriage to the rear, and mounted a handsome white 
horse, which had been sent by the residents of Darby to Chester as 
a gift, and so mounted, rode by the side of Governor Mifflin at the 
head of the line, which turned into Fifth street, where on the left 
hand stood the Plow and Harrow Inn, which, under Mary Withey's 
management, had the reputation of being the best-kept tavern in 
the Colonies; and there it was Lafayette's wounds were dressed by 
Mary Gorman on the night of Brandywine battle. It was then rent- 
ed by Major William Anderson, who, accompanied by his beautiful 
young wife, noted as one of the three beauties of Virginia, had on- 
ly a short time before become residents of the borough. 

Still continuing up the Queen's highway — named in honor of 
Queen Ann, in whose reign it was laid out — the party passed the 
school house at Fifth and Welsh streets— (popularly known as 
Love Lane) the building was then twenty years old — and were in 
the open country, although not yet beyond the corporate limit of 
the borough. Then the whole pageant became a grateful memory 
that Chester will not willingly let pass into oblivion. 




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